Page 26 of Forsaken By Night

Alaska was sounding better and better.

“How do you feel about snow?” he asked.

She blinked. “What?” She jammed her hands on her hips, and he realized he liked her in jeans. Not as much as he liked her naked or wearing his shirt, but there was a lot to love about the way her curves filled out a pair of pants. “We aren’t talking about snow. We’re talking about capturing someone who tried to kill you.”

He sighed. “You really are a dog with a bone.”

She gave him a flat stare. It was the same stare she’d give him when he held a tasty treat out of reach to tease her before tossing it into the air for her to catch.

“What?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “That was funny. You know, because... wolf.”

Clearly she was not amused, but that was okay, because he cracked himself up enough for both of them. Damn, it felt good to have someone to banter with. To laugh with. There hadn’t been enough of that in his life, and he was ready. So ready.

Shaking her head as if he was a lost cause, she went back to searching, disappearing over the top of a shallow rise. He continued scanning the ground for broken twigs, displaced rocks, any physical sign of Su’Neena’s passing.

He was about to join Tehya when he heard an excited yip.

A yip he recognized. His heart missed a beat.

Oh, Tehya, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t....

He charged up the hill, and his gut slid to his feet at the sight of Tehya in wolf form, wagging her tail. He couldn’t utter a word. Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Not until she put her nose to the ground and took off.

Fuck.

He had no choice but to chase after her. He called out, but why, he had no idea. It wasn’t as if she could talk to him, tell him why she’d done such a stupid thing. Besides, he knew why. She’d said it earlier. It was her turn to save him.

Not this way, Tehya. Not this way.

She didn’t stop. She was on a mission, and she was going to see it through. This was nothing new. As a wolf, once she’d picked up the trail of a deer or rabbit, she didn’t stop until she either caught it or lost it for good.

Sweet Maker, how could he both love and hate her dedication?

His mind was a tormented, tangled mass of anger and sorrow, and even a little reluctant pride that grew with every mile they put behind them. Maybe she could shift back. Maybe Nicole was wrong.Pleaselet her be wrong.

Up ahead, Tehya halted, ears pricked, tail high. Then, abruptly, she crouched, hackles raised, and slipped into some thick brush as quietly as a ghost.

On instant alert, he eased behind a fat fir tree and peered in the direction Tehya had gone. Beyond a moss-covered stand of old growth, something moved.

Su’Neena.

What was she doing? He crept closer, trying to figure out why she was hovering over a flat stone, her mouth moving silently. A chant? Was she signaling someone?

Time to get some answers that were long overdue. Fingering the hilt of the borrowed blade in the sheath at his hip, he started toward her, but drew up short before he made it half a dozen steps. Expecting her to chat like an old friend, or even an old enemy, wasn’t going to work. She was stubborn and crafty, and she wouldn’t give up anything easily. It was even possible that Hunter wouldn’t press her unless he had hard evidence that what Lobo claimed was true. Without her confession, Lobo would look like a liar, and his expulsion from the clan would be considered justified.

Fuck that. He was getting a confession, and he’d break every law of man, nature, and vampire to do it.

Inhaling a deep, ragged breath, he summoned an image in his mind of ShadowSpawn’s clan chief, Kars, and hoped he was capable of shifting. Tehya’s blood and the bag of human blood he’d sucked down after his shower at MoonBound had done a lot to fortify him, but still, taking another form this soon after the last shift would be iffy. Even if he could pull it off, it wouldn’t last long. He had to hurry.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, encouraging the burn of the shift, welcoming the pain of it. Every snap of bone and rip of torn nerves could be laid at Su’Neena’s feet, and he was going to make her pay.

Finally, agonizing heartbeats later, he was the spitting image of Kars. At least, he hoped so. It wasn’t as if he had a mirror to check. He just wished he could shift clothes as well. Kars didn’t seem like a jeans-and-tee kind of psychopathic tyrant. He was more of amy jacket is made from the skin of my enemytype.

The pain of the shift faded as he circled the clearing and approached Su’Neena from the front. She looked up from the rock and let out a startled yelp.

“Kars.” She swallowed loud enough for him to hear. “I only just sent out the signal. How did you know I’d be here?” She lowered her voice to a near whisper. “Did our... mutual friend warn you that I may have been compromised?”

Mutual friend?Did MoonBound have another spy in its ranks?

---